basma kavanagh: artwork

1.16.2014

I'm finally putting the finishing touches on a small book edition I made "just for fun" before Christmas. Staying focused on finishing has been excruciating, I'm not sure why. But I am questioning the logic of starting with my easiest projects...one of my goals for the early part of this year is to bind all of my unfinished editions. I'm not sure I want to admit how many projects there are in that state, but I am certain this stuff is holding me back--and stressing me out-- by cluttering my desk and tiny studio (and my mind). Anyway, it's a relief to complete another step, even if it is a baby step.

About Me

My evolving interaction with my surroundings leads to work that explores resonance in natural forms: the echoes and overlaps between terrestrial and marine, vertebrate and invertebrate, plant and animal, human and non-human. Ultimately, an exploration of these forms is an exploration of the intimate connection between living things, and of the empathy we possess for life, both familiar and unfamiliar. In my practice, I become acquainted with various organisms, cultivating relationships. The acquaintance is developed outdoors – in the woods, on the beach – but the work is completed in my studio. The artworks that result from this process – whether sewn, bound, painted, written or planted – are essentially portraits, hopefully conveying something of each non-human persona I encounter, emphasizing the selves that help us, as Barry Lopez said,“in the quest to understand landscape not only as something that is living, but something that includes us and upon which we are subtly dependent”. That is, an animate ‘landscape’ that consists of persons who require our care and respect for their survival and our own.